Currency – Romanian Leu (RON), however, you will easily find exchange offices and banks buying Euro, US dollars and GB pounds. For other currencies we recommend you to go to a local bank office and ask for quotations.

Weather: Romania’s climate is temperate and continental, with four distinct seasons. The average annual temperature is 11 °C (52 °F) in the south and 8 °C (46 °F) in the north. In summer, average maximum temperatures in Bucharest rise to 28 °C (82 °F), and temperatures over 35 °C (95 °F) are fairly common in the lower-lying areas of the country. In winter, the average maximum temperature is below 2 °C (36 °F), however, is common to have weeks with temperatures dropping below 0 °C.

About Romania: With almost 20 million inhabitants, the country is the seventh-most-populous member state of the European Union. Its capital and largest city, Bucharest, is the sixth-largest city in the EU, with 1,8 million inhabitants as of 2011.

For travelling in/out of Romania general EU rules apply.

Holidays, traditions, Romanian cuisine: There are several non-working public holidays, including the National Day (Great Union Day), celebrated on 1 December in commemoration of the 1918 union of Transylvania with Romania. Winter holidays include the Christmas festivities and the New Year – festivities include traditional dances and games in some regions. During Easter, painted eggs are very common, while on 1 March features “mărțișor“ gifting (name for a talisman associated with a red and white string with hanging tassel), a tradition likely of Thracian origin.

Romanian cuisine shares some similarities with other Balkan cuisines such as Greek, Bulgarian and Turkish cuisine, while in North-Western part of the country the influence is strongly Hungarian. Traditional cuisine includes a wide range of sour soups, while pork, chicken and beef are the preferred meats, but lamb and fish are also popular. Certain traditional recipes are made in direct connection with the holidays: sarmale, tobă and tochitura (all made from pork meat) along with cozonac (traditional cake) at Christmas; drob (made from lamb), pască and cozonac at Easter and other Romanian holidays. Țuică is a strong plum brandy reaching a 70% alcohol content which is the country’s traditional alcoholic beverage. Traditional alcoholic beverages also include wine, rachiu, palincă and vișinată. For more details on the food and Romanian restaurants please click here.

Transport: Romania has great flight connections with main European countries and not only. Railway connections are covering almost whole country, however, the trains are not of high speed and we recommend this option for small distances or book a night train for longer distances. Road infrastructure is good, however, the number of highways is not generous and the quality of the roads in some regions is not the best. Before planning a trip by car, please look over the internet on the quality of road in that region. For more information on the transportation click here.

Internet: Even if there is no city-wide free wi-fi solution available, you will find wi-fi in almost all restaurants and hotels around the country. There were almost 18,3 million connections to the Internet in June 2014. According to Bloomberg, in 2013 Romania ranked 5th in the world and 2nd in Europe in terms of internet connection speed, with Timișoara ranked among the highest in the world.

Telephony: The largest telephony providers around the world have also presence in Romania: Vodafone, Orange, Telekom. It is easy to buy a pre-paid card with free minutes included and internet connection, so in case your phone will allow it we recommend you to try this option, especially if you need to dial local numbers.